


The Last Bouquet

by pigtailchick



Category: Frankenstein & Related Fandoms, Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 05:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8477476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pigtailchick/pseuds/pigtailchick
Summary: In which Frankenstein is a dark emo cloud and Clerval causes flower petals to spontaneously materialize around him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to Marlene for providing inspiration and memes.

“Victor.”  
The clear, beautiful voice drifted across the slightly-too-warm bedroom.  
“Victor, come on. Wake up.”  
“Mmhhhh… Go away…” He mumbled, extending the words as he rolled away from the voice.  
A different voice joined in, this time less pleasant. “Victor! Get your ass out of bed!”  
Victor hauled himself up, pushing his hair out of his face and opening his eyes to reveal Elizabeth standing there with a pile of folded clothes in her hands.  
“I did your laundry for you!” She said cheerfully.  
“Thank you.”  
“Breakfast is ready, so come down when you’re dressed.” She glided out of the room, closing the door with a soft _click_ behind her.  
Victor felt bile rising towards his mouth at the thought of food. What use was it to eat? Would eggs and bacon ever soothe his long-suffering heart? Would the pain of what’s to come be lessened by a full stomach? _No_ , he thought, _Death is inevitable, it is useless to try to stave it off._ He sank back into the pillows.  
Five minutes later - or was it closer to twenty? - his father’s voice rang up the stairs again, “Victor! You better not still be in bed!”  
“I’m not,” he called back dejectedly.  
He hauled himself out of bed, accidentally stepping in the pile of laundry as he got up. Black skinny jeans and band t-shirts slipped around under his feet affording him only the barest grip on the floor, much as we are afforded only the barest grip on life as it slips away into eternity. Victor applied black eyeliner, and cried.  
When he finally made it to breakfast, Victor was met with possibly the most heart wrenching scene he had ever beheld. His lovely family greeted him with a plate of pancakes with a smiley face drawn on them. A banner hanging from the doorway, made by Elizabeth no doubt, wished him good luck at college. It was nearly too much for him, but for the sake of his dear friends Victor consumed the pancakes. They had chocolate chips in them, dark and gooey, just like his heart.  
“Pretty big day! Are you excited? Do you think you’ll like your school?” Elizabeth said with her usual girlish excitement.  
Victor laboriously swallowed a bite of pancake. “Excited? That would be a word for it, I guess…”  
“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” said his father, “You just gotta keep your head up, focus on your grades, and stop listening to all that weird music all the time.”  
“But dad, MCR is my whole life! Gerard Way...he just gets me.”  
Mr. Frankenstein sighed. “Well, just- Just don’t get too carried away.” Standing with his empty plate in hand, he left the room before Victor could respond.  
“You’re gonna do great, Victor!” bubbled Elizabeth, adding, “Just be yourself!”  
“Yeah.” He stood, saying, “I’m not very hungry. Thanks for making pancakes.”  
“Are you okay?”  
“Don’t worry, I’m just nervous.”  
Victor retreated to his room and sat on his bed. He looked at his backpack sitting there, reminding him of his own advancement towards death. Existence seemed futile. All of his emotions were swallowed up by the void and then spat back out wrapped in an unhealthy dose of cholesterol. The pancakes weren’t sitting well in his stomach either. He collapsed backwards into the sheets.  
_Plink!_ Something hit the window. Victor slowly sat up, as if a phoenix rising from the ashes. _Plink!_ He hauled himself onto his knees to look out the window. There, two stories below, stood a dark haired figure who seemed to be half coated in flowers. _Plink!_ Victor opened the window.  
“Henry, what are you doing?”  
“Saying goodbye!” replied the other boy.  
“But why are you throwing rocks at my window?”  
“Because it’s romantic, Vicki! We’re gonna be apart for months on end, we have to keep the romance alive!”  
“I’ve never loved you more. Do you want me to let you in the front door, or do you need to climb in via the apple tree to maximize the romance?”  
Henry glanced at the flowers in his arms, furrowing his brow as if deep in thought. “I think you need to let me in the front door,” he said with noticeable disappointment.  
Victor grinned. “I’ll be down in a minute.”  
The descent from his bedroom to the foyer seemed like an eternity. Every step was another thousand years, keeping him from peace and happiness. Finally, reaching the door, Victor flung it open.  
In a whirl of flowers and limbs, Henry flung himself through the open door with a cry of, “Victor!”  
It didn’t end well. Victor was sent crashing to the floor, underneath what was most likely half of an entire flower shop. A vase was smashed on the floor by a hand looking for something to stop the fall of the body it was attached to. The overall effect was neither flattering nor fun for those involved.  
Not ten seconds later, Alphonse Frankenstein arrived to behold the aftermath of the incident. “What are you boys doing on the floor? There better not be any funny business going on.”  
A somehow-still-smiling Henry Clerval answered him as he stood up, “No sir, I was just telling Victor how much I’d miss him!”  
“Yes, and he was very enthusiastic about it,” added Victor as he began to pry himself off the floor. The darkness was beginning to close in on him again. He could feel the weight of death on his soul, creeping ever closer.  
“Well, just-” Alphonse paused, as if unsure what to say. Luckily for him, he didn’t have to say anything, because it was at that moment that Victor fainted.

 

When he came to, Victor was lying on the couch, being steadily watched by Henry and his family. As his eyes opened, he saw the faces of his beloved boyfriend and cousin hovering above him. Their eyes lit up at the sight of him awakening. With a soft cry of “Victor!”, Henry gently embraced him.  
“Good thing you woke up,” Alphonse said from a nearby chair, without looking up from his newspaper. “A few more minutes and I woulda called the doctor.”  
“H-how long was I out?” Victor stuttered.  
“It was forever and ever! Elizabeth cried,” said William from near his feet.  
“You’re thinking of yourself,” replied Elizabeth. Turning back to Victor, she said, “You were out for more than half an hour. How are you feeling?”  
“Like the black expanse of death beckons me closer with every breath.”  
“Good, so same as usual,” said Alphonse as he folded his newspaper and stood up. As he walked out of the room, he added, “Always a relief not to have to take you to the hospital.”  
“Oh Vicki, I’m so glad you’re awake! I have so many things to tell you before you leave,” said Henry. “I’ll miss you so much!”  
Before Victor could muster up a reply, Elizabeth squealed, “Aw, that’s so cute!”  
“No it’s yucky,” said William.  
“No, it’s cute. C’mon,” said Elizabeth, grabbing William’s hand and leading him away, “Let’s go find Justine, you can show her your new toy!”  
Once they were alone, Henry squeezed Victor tighter. “I don’t want you to leave.”  
Victor felt the edges of his heart pull taut, and the sense of fear rising in his throat. “I don’t want to leave either. I’m scared, Henry. I’m scared that something’ll happen while I’m gone and I won’t be here to stop it. If I couldn’t stop Mother from dying, how can I keep everyone else safe?”  
“It’ll be okay. I’ll keep them safe. You don’t have to worry when Henry Clerval’s around,” he said, sitting back, a fragile smile inching onto his face.  
_But what if something happens to you?_ Victor tried push the thought aside, to savor the last hours he’d have with his boyfriend before the next school break. “Thank you,” he said, wiping away a couple stray tears. “I’ll still miss you though. I’ll miss you more than anyone.”  
“Me too,” said Henry, “But I promise to write you everyday! I’ll tell you everything that happens to me, and I’ll write you poems, and I’ll maybe even send you dried flowers too! And we can text and skype and it’ll still be great!”  
Victor grinned. “What would I do without you?”  
“I dunno, probably be really sad for no reason. But no more!” Henry lept onto his feet as he said it, thrusting his fist into the air triumphantly.  
Elizabeth peeked her head around the doorway. “I’m really sorry Victor, but Dad says you need to leave now if you want to make it there in time for him to drop you off and still drive back tonight.”  
“Alright, I’ll be there in a minute.” Victor slowly levered himself onto his feet. As soon as he was upright, Henry embraced him once again, kissing lightly along his forehead and nose, down to his mouth.  
“Goodbye,” Henry whispered, “I love you.”  
“I love you too. I’ll miss you. Be safe.”  
“I’ll call you tonight.”  
“Victor!” yelled Alphonse from the vicinity of the front door, “Let’s get this show on the road!”  
“Goodbye.”  
“Goodbye.”  
Victor hurried to the door and out to the car, to his waiting father. As the car pulled out of the driveway, he looked up to see Henry waving from the front steps. _Maybe college won’t be so bad after all_ , he thought, _What’s the worst that can happen?_


End file.
